Welcome, my dear readers, to Anime Rants. Natsume’s Book of Friends is an anime that holds a special place in my heart. It’s usually a very peaceful and wholesome anime. You can see this in episode 5. However, the variety of anthology episodes means that you will occasionally encounter a darker episode with mystery elements. That is what we saw in episode 6. Let’s discuss both installments.
Contents
Episode 5: Chobi’s Treasure
Episode Rating: 8/10
This episode was simple and charming. One day, Natsume sees a white dragon in the sky. It seems to be molting, dropping sparkling scales. While trying to find one of the fallen scales, Natsume encounters Chobi. The old ayakashi is depressed. Apparently, his most treasured possession – a beautiful comb made out of a rainbow seashell – broke in half. Chobi mourns because he knows it may be a long time before he finds anything that beautiful again.
Natsume wants to help Chobi cheer up. He also would love to be able to watch the dragon soar with Nyanko-sensei, who hasn’t seen a white dragon before. Thus, Natsume and Nyanko go searching for the dragon. If they can spot it, maybe they can pick up one of its scales. A sparkling dragon scale would make an excellent gift for Chobi. Perhaps he could even use the material to fashion a new comb.
Natsume and Nyanko-sensei were having difficulty finding anything. Soon, the other ayakashi from the “Dog Circle” joined in the search. They all wanted to help Natsume and Chobi. Eventually, someone spots a glittering item in a huge pine tree on a cliff’s edge. Natsume bravely climbs the tree and grabs the item. Sure enough, it’s a dragon scale. Natsume feels grateful for all the help. He couldn’t have done it alone.
When presented with the gift, Chobi initially acts unimpressed. But there’s a reason for that. Much to everyone’s surprise, he reveals his true form. Chobi is actually the white dragon! To him, dragon scales are not that special. But because it was a gift from Natsume and his other friends, Chobi accepts the gift and uses it to make a new comb. He then flies up in the sky, dancing and twirling for everyone to see. Nyanko-sensei finally got to see a white dragon with Natsume. It’s a very happy ending.
Episode 6: The Abandoned Station, Two Wheels
Episode Rating: 8/10
Before we cover the events in this episode, let me remind you about Seiju Matoba. He is a recurring character in Natsume’s Book of Friends. As the head of the famous Matoba clan of exorcists, he is a powerful entity. Matoba and Natsume had a rough first meeting, and on top of that, Matoba is naturally a bit unsettling to be around. He’s suave, mysterious, and sly. I find him extremely attractive, but to some, he seems creepy.
The first part of the episode showed Natsume taking shelter from the rain in an abandoned train station in the woods. There, he sees Matoba holding a birdcage covered in cloth. Inside the cage is a mysterious yokai that mimics a bird. It sings like a bird, signaling for a huge, monstrous yokai that typically destroys a person’s house. Matoba tells Natsume to take cover while the giant monster appears at the train station. All Natsume can do is cower until Matoba deals with the threat.
The next day, Natsume goes to visit Beniko Hakozaki, a female friend whose grandfather was an eccentric exorcist and did weird experiments with yokai. Beniko has seen a strange yokai around lately and asks Natsume to take care of it. Much to Natsume’s surprise, Matoba is also at the Hakozaki estate to deal with the problem. A few of his followers are with him, including Nanase. She is a very bad-ass older lady.
Matoba’s group and Natsume worked together fight the enemy yokai, which was apparently an artificially created yokai that resembles an extremely tall, skeleton doll. Its appearance was genuinely unsettling, and for a puppet, it was very powerful. Natsume and company managed to blow off one of its arms and knock it down, but the creature wasn’t finished yet. At that moment, an even more terrifying yokai descended from the sky. It doesn’t have a name, but I call it the Eye Eater.
The Eye Eater is the monstrous entity that took one of Matoba’s eyes. It haunts him and his clan now, always trying to get Matoba’s other eye. The creature resembles a gooey black blob with one eye. It can also make a horrendous, toothy mouth appear when it wants to devour something. Luckily, the Eye Eater is not very bright, and always misses Matoba’s eye. Since the creature is so powerful, Matoba also uses it to his advantage. He tricked it into eating the puppet yokai, thus eliminating the threat. Then the Eye Eater crawled away.
With both yokai gone, the trouble was resolved. Natsume and Nyanko-sensei head home. On the walk back, Natsume somberly considers what he knows about Matoba. While the older man seems creepy and alien to him, Natsume also respects him in a certain way. Matoba is clever and strong, so he deals with yokai threats even while they constantly haunt and harass him. Natsume isn’t sure if he could be as strong as Matoba, who also has to lead an entire clan.
The episode leaves off there. I appreciated Natsume’s thoughts at the end, since I think Matoba is a decent person. Maybe he got somewhat jaded from being haunted all the time, but he’s not a villain. That’s all for today.
~Thanks for Reading~
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Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7 Episodes 1 and 2
Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7 Episodes 3 and 4
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